The Most Horrific Graveyard in the World

It’s a record of death, of disease, of violence—the most horrific graveyard in the world. But when did these terrible things occur—before Adam sinned?
Let us consider what the Bible teaches concerning life before Adam ate the forbidden fruit and sin entered the world, and compare it to the fossil record.

What Do We Find in the Bible?

Animals Were Once Vegetarian

In Genesis 1:29–30, God instructed Adam and Eve to eat fruit and herbs, and
He instructed the animals to eat plants. After the Flood God told Noah he could
now eat “everything,” as he once ate plants (Genesis 9:3). In other words, Adam
and Eve were originally vegetarian.

Since God’s instructions to animals were written in the same way as His instructions
to Adam, it is obvious that the animals were originally vegetarian, too. Look
at these verses again:

“God said, ‘See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on
the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it
shall be for food’ ” (Genesis 1:29).

“‘Also, to every beast of the earth,
to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which
there is life, I have given every green herb for food’; and it was so” (Genesis
1:30).

“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given
you all things, even as the green herbs” (Genesis 9:3).

The Bible makes no specific statement about when animals started eating each
other. However, it had to be after sin—not before.

It is important to remember that the Bible is primarily a book about man and
his relationship with God, not a book about animals. So we wouldn’t expect to
find detailed teaching concerning animals as we do man. Nevertheless, we can
certainly apply what we do know from Scripture to an understanding of the animal
kingdom.

Creation Was “Very Good”

At the end of Creation Week, when God had “finished” His work of creating,
He described everything He had made, including all animals, plants, and Adam
and Eve, as “very good” (Genesis 1:31).

When God uses the phrase “very good,” what would that mean? Consider what happened
when Jesus, the Creator, walked on the earth as the God-man. He had compassion
on people who were sick, and He healed them. Would this same God call disease
“very good”? In Luke 18:19, Jesus makes it clear there is only one who is “good,”
and that is God! When God described the creation as “very good,” there would
be no disease, suffering, or deterioration from old age.

So, at the end of the Creation Week, animals would not have been eating each
other, they would not have suffered from any diseases, and they would not be
dying from old age. It was a “very good,” or perfect, creation.

No Thorns Before the Curse

Because of sin and as a part of the Curse, God stated that “both thorns and
thistles shall [the ground] bring forth for you” (Genesis 3:18). So there would
have been no thorns in the creation before the Curse.

A “Groaning” World Today

What do we observe in the world today? We see animals eating each other, animals
dying from diseases and old age, and thorns growing everywhere. Writing in the
context of the effects of sin, the Apostle Paul says that the “whole creation
groans” (Romans 8:22).

What Do We Find in the Fossil Record?

Now, understanding all this, let us look at the most horrific graveyard in
the world—the fossil record. Is it like the world today or the world before
Adam sinned:

Fossil thorns

Evidence of animals eating other animals

Evidence
of disease, such as cancer

Secularists believe that most of the fossil record, which spreads over the
majority of the earth’s surface, was laid down over hundreds of millions of
years—long before man appeared on the earth. (And, sadly, many Christians have
adopted their ideas.)

How Does the Fossil Record Compare with the Bible?

The Bible clearly shows that thorns, disease, and carnivory originated after
Adam’s sin. So the view that creatures lived and died millions of years before
Adam’s sin totally contradicts the Bible.

This horrific fossil graveyard had to be formed after Adam sinned—after the
Curse.

What Formed the Graveyard?

The global Flood of Noah’s day helps make sense of the formation of such a
fossil record.

The Garden of Eden could not have existed on top of this graveyard. Instead,
most of this graveyard was formed by the burial of creatures during the Flood
(as we have detailed in past Answers magazine articles and at www.answersingenesis.org).

This horrific graveyard serves as a reminder that God’s Word is true (He really
did flood the whole earth, as recorded in Genesis 6–9). It is also a reminder
that God will judge the world again, but next time by fire. This will be the
final judgment.

Just as God provided an Ark of salvation for Noah and his family (and anyone
else, if they wanted to go through the door to be saved), so He has provided
an Ark of salvation for us—the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” (John
10:9). My plea for you is that you would know for sure you are in the Ark of
salvation! And let the horrific fossil graveyard always remind you of past judgment,
future judgment, and the Ark of salvation.

Ken Ham, a former public school science teacher, is the founder and president of Answers in Genesis–USA. He has edited and authored many books about the authority of God’s Word and the impact of evolutionary thinking on our culture, including the recent best seller, Already Gone and his latest book, Already Compromised.

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